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BEIJING, April 18 – On Monday, Shanghai’s market regulator notified 12 e-Commerce platforms related to the issue of price gouging during the Covid-19 pandemic period. Some of these platforms were ele.me and Meituan. The regulator on its we chat account said that the notified e-Commerce platforms were to stop ways such as inapt price increases by the riders. The regulator also told to enhance the management of delivery riders.
The 12 e-Commerce platforms said to the regulator about the up-gradation process and distinct solutions in brief that they have adopted. These platforms also traded comments related to the process taken to balance prices in the Covid-19 period, their operating situation, and common complaints by the consumers.
One of the platforms, Meituan, guaranteed that it will take suitable steps to improve the quality of its supplies, increase the no of inspections visits, set higher checks on the prices of commodities with different categories and also establish a regulating team to have an overlook over the operations. At the time when problems such as price gouging or irrational pricing are to be found, the goods will be removed from the list immediately or will be cut off before their arrival.
In the meantime, Eleme. I said that it had announced a balancing of price initiative. Since March 27, It has also issued alarms on the management of “blind vegetable boxes”. To assess and control the prices of 25 essential fresh commodities such as meat, cucumbers, and potatoes on daily basis, Ele.me has established a special administration team.
Shanghai regulator in the meeting also stated about the high-level problems regarding the unreasoning minimal purchase quantities, the complaints presented by the consumers, inconsistent “blind vegetable boxes,” and the very high pricing of vegetable products. The regulator put forth new provisions such as enhancing the assessment of blind vegetable boxes and packaging to firmly protect the interest and legal rights of the consumers.
On April 15, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology told that the sign will be given to restart the production of 666 enterprises in industries such as biomedicine, automobile manufacturing, integrated circuits, and equipment manufacturing. The Shanghai city’s market regulator said that the food production companies are steadily restoring the production, resulting in a full guarantee supply of basic living things.


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Canadian retailer puts Christmas music on pause
* Shoppers Drug Mart turns off Christmas carols
* Got complaints that early November just too soon for them
* Move prompts praise, criticism online
TORONTO, Nov 5 (Reuters) - Shoppers Drug Mart Corp, Canada's top pharmacy chain, will switch off the Christmas carols piped into its stores for a little while, bowing to complaints from customers who say the beginning of November is just too early for holiday cheer.
The retailer posted the news on Facebook on Friday, and it spread online over the weekend, prompting thousands of comments both praising and decrying the long holiday season.
"We've always started to play our Christmas music at this time of year," said spokeswoman Tammy Smitham. "After Halloween's over, retailers switch to Christmas."
But this year, the carols inspired a lot of complaints, Smitham said, perhaps because social media have made it easier to get in touch. In particular, some said it was inappropriate to celebrate Christmas before Remembrance Day on Nov. 11, when Canada and other countries honor veterans of the armed forces.
Getting an early start on Christmas cheer also has its defenders, however. "People are almost equally divided," Smitham said. "It's very difficult to please everybody."
She emphasized that Shoppers will still play Christmas music this year - just a little later than usual. Continued...

domain: news


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Back in May, the US government placed an export ban on Huawei that prevents US companies (and companies using US origin technology) from doing business with the Chinese technology giant. As Huawei still has customers to support in smartphone and mobile infrastructure operations, the US Department of Commerce gave Huawei a 90-day exception to the ban, allowing it to support its existing customers. This 90-day license was issued May 20, 201
According to a Reuters report, the US government will just kick the can again and give Huawei another 90-day extension to support its customers. Sources tell Reuters that deal is "expected" to be renewed this weekend, pending a call between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping
Back in May, the Department of Commerce described the exception and says "The temporary general license grants operators time to make other arrangements and the Department's scope to determine appropriate long-term measures for US and foreign telecommunications providers currently relying on Huawei Critical Services equipment, in short, this license will allow operations to continue for existing Huawei mobile phone users and broadband network in the countryside. "
Huawei was banned from doing business in the United States due to concerns that the company could be used by the Chinese government to spy on Americans. Huawei has repeatedly denied that they are spies for the Chinese government. A new report from the Wall Street Journal claims that the company helped African governments spy on its citizens, which Huawei also denied.
We went through this whole song and dance last year banning and aborting the Chinese company ZTE, which eventually saw ZTE accept fines and a change of management as a condition of opening again. Huawei is one of China's largest companies, which must make you wonder what retaliation from China would look like if these calls break. In the past, the country has threatened to block iPhone sales if the trade war escalates.


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The first meeting of the US-EU Trade and Technology occurred in a former steel building in Southeast Pittsburgh that has been converted into a research and development centre for AI and robotics.
FREMONT, CA: Trade and competition officials from the United States and the European Union launched a new forum to compete with China. The main objectives of the forum were to protect sensitive technologies, enhance semiconductor supplies, and coordinate regulation of huge technological companies. The US-EU Trade and Technology Council conducted its first meeting in a former steel mill building in Pittsburgh which has been converted into a research and developmental centre for Artificial Intelligence, robotics and advanced manufacturing.
The draft on US-EU initiatives, which includes a more coordinated approach to restrain Big Tech’s rising market power, was originally reported by Reuters. With regulators on both sides of the Atlantic attempting to rein in the growing dominance of American internet behemoths like Alphabet's Google, Facebook, Apple, and Amazon.com Inc, such cooperation has become crucial. The council plans to discuss matters like chip shortages, Artificial Intelligence and tech competition issues. Several Washington-based IT trade associations have stated that the industry does not want the European approach to digital regulation to be emulated in the US. The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation find it critical for US companies to vigorously defend US economic interests in the TTC. Moreover, the companies are not allowed to gloss over real differences in privacy rules, artificial intelligence regulations, antitrust laws, digital taxation and content moderation. The United States and the EU share several goals for Artificial Intelligence like curbing its use for surveillance and repression. However, the TTC has offered help and is a forum that provides a common ground for discussing issues and addressing differences.
The EU was willing to consider similar agreements made by Canada and Mexico in 2019 that eliminated US tariffs on their steel and aluminium products exported to the United States. An agency had implemented the US metal tariffs and also conducted a meeting with the European allies to find ways to restrain China’s non-market behaviour, including dumping underpriced steel into US and European markets.


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The competition watchdog has launched the enquiry on a complaint filed by consumer rights body CUTS International.
CUTS International said in a statement Monday that its complaint against Google followed global actions against the search engine giant for its abusive practices.
CUTS International had filed the complaint last month saying Google was abusing its dominant position in the Indian market by indulging in anti-competitive practices in various ways.
The consumer advocacy group has complained that Google was imposing unfair and discriminatory conditions on customers and manipulating algorithmic as well as paid search results by penalising certain websites and advertisers.
The Competition Commission of India is already investigating another complaint against Google by Bharat Matrimony.com. The complaint is about discriminatory practices related to Bharat Matrimony's AdWords programme


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There was a time, not so long ago, when the world feared China was going to use its dominance of the global rare-earth-element industry to crush Western economies and militaries in a strategic vise. Those were the days. Recent developments highlight how wrong those alarmist predictions were.
Rare earths are the metals at the bottom of the periodic table that are exceptionally useful in many high-tech applications, from lasers to solar panels to electric car batteries to smartphones. China is the world's major extractor and only processor of rare-earth ores.
Beijing aroused worries in late 2010 when it apparently limited exports of the minerals to Japan amid a territorial dispute. The episode stoked fears that China would use its sole-supplier status for nefarious ends.
Except that it turns out Beijing doesn't have the wherewithal to execute such a dastardly plan. Consider the new plan Beijing unveiled last week to consolidate its rare-earth industry into six large extraction and processing companies. As a start, Inner Mongolia Baotou Steel Rare-Earth Hi-Tech Company (yes, that's its name) is buying nine of its smaller competitors in the north, with more mergers and acquisitions to come.
This is at least the second time in roughly a decade that Beijing has attempted rare-earth rationalization. The first foundered when faced by opposition that included the local officials who so often sponsor projects away from Beijing's watchful gaze.
The consolidation drive is a sign of weakness, not strength. The impetus is Beijing's need to resolve the problems its past interventions in the market have created.
Export restrictions kicked in three years ago, officially justified by the need to reduce the pollution caused by mining and processing. Global prices rose dramatically, creating an incentive for new miners to start production, and an opportunity for them to profit from circumventing export blocks via endemic smuggling.
Meanwhile, Beijing's economic stimulus policies lowered the cost of credit, making it easier to fund this investment. But once the global panic subsided and demand slackened, rare-earth prices fell by as much as 60% from their 2011 peaks. Oversupply is the new worry.
On a related note, the export restrictions also have not helped Beijing mitigate the environmental damage caused by the rare-earth industry. Processing the ores is messy work, and Beijing seems to have hoped that whatever other mercantilist objective it might achieve, limiting export quantities would also lead to a cleanup of the industry at home.
Not so, because the restrictions stimulated new mining by small, illegal operators with even worse environmental practices than the big companies. Now lower global prices and the resulting thinner profit margins make costly environmental compliance that much harder.
Don't suppose for a minute that centrally arranged consolidation will solve any of this, since consolidation doesn't fix the underlying problem with China's approach to rare earths: Beijing still steadfastly refuses to allow the market to operate. Just ask yourself, when is the last time that politically allocated capital; administrative controls on price, production, export or other disposition of an output; and centrally determined corporate structures resulted in a rational industry, in China or anywhere else?
For guidance on better options, Beijing could look abroad. The other big rare earths story of the moment highlights the extent to which Beijing's non-market machinations have triggered helpful market responses elsewhere.
A Pentagon report leaked last month noted that reliance on Chinese rare-earth metals, while still high, is declining. New supplies for most rare-earths are coming online, as uncertainty over China's reliability and a period of higher prices stimulated investment in new mining projects elsewhere. Greenland and Russia both have opened new tracts to rare-earths exploration in the past year. China's share of global production now is down to as low as 80% from 95% in 2010.
This overseas rare-earth industry is not so different from the Chinese version, insofar as it's sustained, for now at least, by readily available capital thanks to the post-2010 surge in investor interest. But what the foreigners do have is a market mechanism for industry rationalization over time, as more profitable miners prosper and others go bankrupt or merge into their healthier peers via an organic process of consolidation.
Meanwhile, note an especially piquant detail: Manufacturers are rethinking their dependence on the metals as an input. One suspected goal of China's export restrictions was to force foreign manufacturers to shift more of their high-value-added, high-tech production into China in pursuit of more readily available domestic supplies.
Instead, foreign high-tech companies increasingly invest in new recycling methods, or products that rely less on rare earths. They have not weaned themselves off the metals by a long shot. But the technology frontier is shifting ever so gradually away from rare earths, and from China.
This does not add up to a major industrial-policy victory for Beijing. It's safe now to put away our smelling salts.
Mr. Sternberg edits the Journal's Business Asia column.


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Oregon Unveils Spring Game Uniforms
Nike knows no offseason when it comes to new Oregon Duck football uniforms.
With Oregon’s spring game to be played on Saturday, the Ducks unveiled the military-themed uniforms players will be wearing on Friday. Along with the all-white Storm Trooper look Oregon has used in the past, Nike has unleashed an awesome “olive” uniform. The helmet for the olive unis has two tones like the recently released new Jacksonville Jaguars helmet; the wings on the liquid metal lid awesomely fade from yellow to anthracite. The military is honored with “Support Our Troops” on the name plates for each uniform.
Since players have already been there and done that with the white unis, expect them to be climbing over each other to be on the olive team for Saturday. Grade: A


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The fresh new payday loans party is at reject. Authorities is actually circling, storefronts had been disappearing and you can consumers was indeed abandoning this new industry’s biggest enterprises dentro de masse.
Yet today, just a few ages later on, certain same subprime loan providers that according to the latest debt was promoting an almost also onerous kind of credit.
It is known once the on the web installment financing, a type of personal debt with prolonged maturities not, the same sort of disastrous, triple-hand interest rates. In case the wages loan’s audience is the country’s terrible, then payment capital is largely aimed toward all of these working-class Us citizens with seen the wages stagnate and you may you are going to a fantastic bills stack up regarding many years just like the Great Credit crunch.
Into the a course of only five years, on the web percentage finance have gone out-of getting a comparatively market providing in order to a yellow-colored-breathtaking globe. Non-perfect people today together owe on the $50 billion on fees facts, considering credit reporting organization TransUnion. They’re enabling change the manner in which a massive swath of your own nation accesses personal debt. And they have done this rather than attracting the kind of personal and you can managing backlash you to definitely hounded the brand new pay day loan.
“Payment financing is largely a cash cow to own creditors, not, a devastating costs so you can consumers,” told you Margot Saunders, earlier counsel for the Federal Individual Rules Heart, an effective nonprofit advocacy group.
On , mediocre home earnings for those with high university knowledge possess xxx regarding the 15%, in order to just as much as $46,100000, according to latest You.S. Census Bureau research available.
In addition to is the fact below the newest 20% rates boost registered into a broad basket of goods and several months, however, key can cost you you to definitely gamble a passionate outsize profile on the cardio-category budgets have raised a lot more: Home prices is actually up twenty six%, health care 33%, and you can school will set you back an impressive 45%.
Need Reads: CashCall eliminated and also make funding, although creator, directed by the authorities, continues to vip payday loans be in the industry
To keep up, People in the us lent. A great deal. Unsecured unsecured loans, and mortgage, car, credit card and you may pupil obligations, be able to continuously climbed across the period.
For most wages loan providers observing encroaching controlling constraints and you can you might accusations aside-from predatory credit, the working class’ expanding importance of borrowing is the ability to recreate by themselves.
It “seen the language toward wall structure and felt like, ‘Why don’t we greet they and discover information stay static in providers,’” told you Lisa Servon, a pay day loan UT College or university out of Pennsylvania professor attending to towards the metropolitan poverty in addition to writer of “This new Unbanking regarding the us: The Center-money group Endures.”
Go into the on the internet payment financing, aimed partly regarding a quick-expanding quantity of “near-prime” people – people who have crappy, however awful, borrowing – that have minimal the means to access antique financial possibilities.
Differing away from $a hundred so you can $ten,100000 or even more, it without difficulty turned into common a large number of option credit organization subsequently began producing the majority of their loans aside-regarding fees rather than payday loan.
The fresh change included a first influences to own users. Because of the switching exactly how users repaid the expense, subprime creditors been able to partially stop growing regulatory create suggested to end group regarding shedding to your obligations traps built on high charges and endless renewals.
When you are pay day loan are usually lower in a unitary lump sum payment payment plus an issue of days, conditions on the percentage loans may vary of four so that you is two months, obviously providing individuals to take on large volumes away from money.
Explore $5,a hundred, shell out $42,000 – How very higher-focus financing has erupted inside Ca
For the claims particularly Ca and Virginia, interest rate caps delivered years ago and supposed to shelter payday somebody applied simply to financing lower than $2,five-hundred.


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Recode’s new ‘Tech Bubble’ feature takes us inside the tech bubble and explains how it works.
Recode senior technology reporter Kara Swisher breaks down the tech industry’s most talked about trends and the best tech products to get started with today.
The technology bubble is back, and that’s great news for consumers.
The tech bubble has been popping for years, but with a new generation of startups and companies like Uber and Airbnb coming out of nowhere, it’s finally here.
We’ve all been hearing about tech bubbles in the news lately.
There’s a new startup every month that just happens to be a $1 billion company.
We’ve also been hearing the buzz about Facebook, Amazon, Snapchat, Uber, and many others that have all been rising.
And if you’re wondering what all the fuss is about, well, it all starts with the fact that the technology bubble has existed for years and years.
“There are people that think that there are only a few companies that are going to break through,” Swisher says.
“I think that’s completely wrong.
The whole industry is so deep and so interconnected that it’s easy for one company to do well.”
What’s really going on in the tech sector?
The tech bubble is a term that refers to the idea that there is too much money in the market and there is not enough competition for everyone to get a fair shot.
Companies like Facebook, Uber and Amazon, which have the ability to do so much, are doing just that, but there are also new entrants like Airbnb and Snapchat.
These companies are offering the promise of a better, more flexible way to share your home with others.
There are also companies that have been doing this for years but have only recently gotten into the limelight.
We recently had a look at a few of these companies, and they all have the potential to do something very big.
For starters, we’ve seen companies like Airbnb, UberEATS, and Homejoy.
Airbnb lets people rent out their homes, so they can stay with friends, family, and pets in their own homes, while Homejoy allows people to book a room online and then book a private room to rent out.
These two services are now competing for renters in the United States.
UberEAT lets you order food and then go pick it up, while Airbnb lets you rent out your home.
All three have similar features, but Homejoy also has a $99 per month monthly fee, while UberEats has a monthly fee of $99.
And then there’s Snapchat, which allows you to create a private group chat room and then invite other people to join you.
All these services are all very similar to each other and are trying to compete with each other, but they’re also trying to get into people’s homes.
In other words, this is a new, crowded market.
The competition is so fierce that the companies are trying their best to find a way to gain more users and stay in the race.
There are also some other competitors that are taking on the big boys.
We had a closer look at Airbnb’s competition with Homejoy and UberEATT and saw that they’re both doing well, but that there’s also a huge amount of competition between these three companies.
So, what do you need to know about the tech bubbles?
To start with, let’s talk about what exactly is in a tech bubble?
To understand what’s going on right now in the technology sector, you have to go back a bit.
Tech bubbles were invented in the early 2000s by an economist named Robert Shiller, and he called them bubbles.
Bubbles are a term used to describe bubbles of money, interest rates, stock prices, and so on.
There is a lot of money in stocks right now, but we don’t see it going anywhere soon.
We also don’t have many high-growth companies.
We do have some very large, profitable companies like Facebook and Google.
But these companies have so many different kinds of customers, and all of them have different things they want to do.
So there is a huge market of potential customers.
The next big thing to understand is what is happening in the real estate market right now.
The first bubble is the one we all knew was going to happen.
Shiller called this bubble the “fear bubble,” and he said that people are worried about the future of the real-estate market.
We all know that real-tasting food and fresh water are the future.
But what does that really mean?
There are still a lot more places to buy real estate than there were a couple of years ago.
And with the recent price spikes and price declines, many people are getting nervous.
And this is what Shiller meant when he said “fears.”
When you feel anxious, you tend to pay more attention to what’s happening around you.
In fact, it may even lead to more purchases.
People are worried that the real economy is slowing down, but it’s actually


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Android 7.0 Nougat Stories May 28, 2018
Google rolling out an updated Android 7.1.1 Nougat build for Nexus 6 owners
No, we’re not kidding. Over three and a half years after its debut, Google is rolling out an update to its Nexus 6. There’s no Oreo on board here, but rather, just an updated version of Android 7.1.1 Nougat.
Android 7.0 Nougat Stories February 5, 2018
It might have taken 18 months but Nougat has finally become the most used version of Android. While most of the phones released in 2017 came with Nougat pre-installed, it has taken quite some time for older devices to receive the update.
Has your Android device been updated to Nougat yet?
Android 7.0 Nougat Stories September 29, 2017
Amazon’s Fire OS updated to Nougat with introduction of version 6
Amazon’s Fire OS, which runs on all of its Fire tablets and Fire streaming sticks/boxes, is finally getting an upgrade to 7.1.2 Nougat. While this forked version of Android is a pretty big step up from Fire OS 5 (which is based on Lollipop or Marshmallow depending on the device), unfortunately, version 6 won’t be rolling out to many devices…
Android 7.0 Nougat Stories August 8, 2017
Android 7.0 Nougat Stories July 22, 2017
Android Nougat is now rolling out to the LG V10 on T-Mobile
Rumors for the upcoming LG V30 are in full-force, but even with LG focused on getting its latest flagship out the door, the company managed to set some time aside to finally release the Android Nougat update for the V10 on T-Mobile.
Android 7.0 Nougat Stories July 7, 2017
Android hit a milestone this past month as Nougat — versions 7.0 and 7.1 combined — finally made its way onto 11.5% of devices. Even though the next version of the operating system is set to go live in the next couple of months, this is sort of a big deal as a tenth of the market is now on the latest stable build of Android.
Has your Android phone and or tablet been updated to Nougat yet or are you still waiting for your OEM to upgrade your device?


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The Evo 2014 fighting game tournament will host thousands of competitive fighters, nearly 2,000 of whom will be playing developer Capcom's Ultra Street Fighter 4, Evo's Joey Cuellar revealed on Twitter.
Tournament registration just ended, and these are the players and games, according to Cuellar:
- Ultra Street Fighter 4 – 1,979 players
- Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 – 1,014
- Super Smash Bros. Melee – 970
- BlazBlue: Chrono Phantasma – 508
- Killer Instinct – 338
- King of Fighters 13 – 319
- Injustice: Gods Among Us – 311
- Tekken Tag Tournament 2 – 257
Evo 2014 will take place at the LVH Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas from July 11-13. Last month, organizers announced that its Indie Showcase will include games like Messhof's pixelated fencing game Nidhogg and Matt Thorson's arrow-filled TowerFall.


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Paris-based mobile game company Gameloft has inked a deal with Paris Hilton to use her likeness in a series of games geared toward mobile devices.
The games will debut sometime this summer and are expected to be part of a series of card and puzzle games. There’s no word on what the games will actually do or what role Hilton will play in them. (No doubt mod makers will be hard at work trying to create a disrobing technique for these titles.)
My phone has become an all-in-one entertainment device and mobile games are an integral part of that,” Hilton said in a statement. “Mobile gaming is really hot right now and I’m excited to be part of this project.” — Seattle Post Intelligencer
Hilton is one of the world’s most famous people who is famous simply for being famous. An heir to the famous Hilton hotel dynasty and the co-star of the reality TV show The Simple Life, Hilton has also been singled out by director T. Rajeevnath to play the role of Mother Teresa. Whether she’ll do it or not remains to be seen.
Here’s hoping Paris sticks with mobile games.Powered by Sidelines


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TikTok key to sonic branding with Gen Z | WARC | The Feed
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TikTok key to sonic branding with Gen Z
US brands are failing to connect effectively with Gen Z in their sonic branding efforts, new research suggests. According to SoundOut, the sonic branding and testing agency, sonic logos of leading brands are 60% less likely to be recognised by Gen Z than older demographics.
Why it matters
Gen Z is no more or less likely than older generations to register a brand’s sonic identity, but that’s assuming they hear it at all. SoundOut suggests that sonic logos are not so much failing to register with Gen Z as failing to register in the right place – TikTok.
The agency notes that Home Depot saw its sonic identity randomly go viral on TikTok in 2019, but without any brand association. A successful TikTok campaign in 2022, however, enabled Home Depot to ‘reappropriate’ this sonic identity and, consequently, to register double-digit increased attribution with Gen Z (14%) against 7% for the over 25s.
The study measured the increase in sonic branding attribution for over 135 major US brands between 2021 and 2023, drawing on the findings from over 150,000 consumer studies. Attribution measures the ability of a consumer to name the correct brand from exposure to the sonic logo alone. SoundOut compared the results from the perspective of Gen Z respondents (those born between 1997 and 2015) to those over the age of 25.
- Looking at the 50 brands that have increased attribution the most across all age groups between 2021 and 2023, the average increase in brand attribution is just 6% for Gen Z, compared to 15% for those over 25 years old.
- For all 108 brands that have had a sonic identity for over two years, the overall average attribution for Gen Z has increased by just 2%, with many brands registering decreased recognition and attribution over the period.
- Among the best performing new sonic logos released during the past two years, a similar pattern emerges: average attribution for Gen Z was 14%, yet for the over 25s it was 21%.
“The TikTok algorithm hugely boosts posts that feature trending music, resulting in far greater exposure for brands at marginal additional cost. If the sonic logo is also incorporated, brands have a far higher chance of building attribution with Gen Z” – Grace Hammond, SoundOut Co-Founder.
Sourced from SoundOut
[Image: Lala Azizli on Unsplash]
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Tag "Internet of Things (IoT)"
The major interest has been from the manufacturing sector as work-from-home is not an option for many companies reportedly The company is eventually seeing the demand for
The cooperative development features excellent hardware and software solutionss for IIoT Meets the necessary certifications for field deployment in tough environments TT Electronics in collaboration
What’s LoRa Alliance all about? How can they benefit creators of IoT Solutions in India and across the globe? Those were the questions we had
By collaborating with TT Electronics, Wittra will gain access to high-end IoT design and marketing solutions. The new asset tracking solution will be launched in
Pilot testing has been successfully conducted several cities in India. With IoT technology set to expand in the coming years, The need for NB-IoT is
Addition of IoT and NB-IoT private networks to Curiosity™ IoT solution, will lead to more use cases of IoT across many industry verticals. Standards for LTE
The IoT market is expected to reach US$ 520 billion in 2021. Company’s wide range of IoT devices are fit for applications in smart homes
The launch is in partnership with Invest India and Kerala Start-Up Mission. Through Log-X technology accelerator platform, startups will be identified for future strategic engagements.


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Black Friday 2019 is quickly approaching, which means some of the best deals of the year are coming and the temptation to spend will be everywhere. They'll close at 1 a.m. Friday, November 29 and will reopen later that morning at 7 a.m. Retailers spread out deals across all of November and even earlier now. Likewise, online shopping is making it easier to find bargains before Black Friday itself.
Amazon has announced which of its devices will be on sale ahead of Black Friday.
The store will also have great deals on gaming consoles, vacuum cleaners and, of course, televisions.More news: Bob Iger believes that Disney released too many Star Wars films
More news: ‘Coup has started’: Whistleblower’s Attorney said in 2017
More news: China, U.S. Agree to Phased Tariff Rollback as Deal Progresses
There's no page on Amazon explaining exactly what the Hidden Gems sale is all about, but looking over the deals that are now active tells me it's about highlighting products from companies most people won't have heard of.
Be sure to follow ClarkDeals.com and sign up for our free newsletters for the best Black Friday deals as they come available. In other words not the kind of company that would make headlines with their own Black Friday discounts - no matter how good their products may be. For Target Circle members, you can join in on the Early Access Sale starting at 6 p.m. CST with access to select deals.
But you certainly don't need to wait until Thanksgiving.


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There’s information on the LENR-Cities website about a LENR-Cities event to be held at the Camera di Commercio Svizzera in Italia, in Milan on February 27th.
The meeting is titled “Low Energy Nanoscale Reactions & Applications for Industrialists”, and the agenda covers mainly topics that would be of interest to individuals and organizations who might be interested in how businesses and industry can prepare for the emergence of LENR in the marketplace.
An outline of the themes to be discussed is included:
“At LENR-Cities, we are developing an European-centric business ecosystem in order to address sustainability challenges and transition to a new economy. We are pure player in ecosystem development, an innovative new business. Any disruptive innovation is a challenge for every company and we are at the stage when the wave of disruptions will affect every sector . . .
“For industrialists, applications of these technologies will create a huge opportunities and risks for both established and new businesses. Joining LENRG is a path to mitigate their risks, benefits from LENR technologies to develop innovative products, and adapt their business model to the new sharing economy.”
There is a lot of mention about “LENRG” (I suppose it rhymes with “energy”), and I think that refers to the group of businesses that are signed up to be part of the “ecosystem” that LENR-Cities is creating.
The preliminary list of speakers is:
Michel Vandenberghe — CEO of LENR-Cities
Yogi Srivastara — Professor Emeritus of Physics, Indiana University
Angelo Ovido — CEO, Kresenn, Ltd.
Didier Pelluet — LENR-Cities
Luca Gamberale — CEO, LD-Brane srls


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Main Street's Mob The Merchant Debuts at Goll's
Havre de Grace Main Street launches a new initiative aimed at boosting small business.
Flash mobs are a sight to see.
For the owner of a small business, a cash mob would be even better.
Havre de Grace Main Street is launching a new initiative Saturday at one of the city's older businesses that will aim to drive a high volume of traffic in a short period of time.
The first "Mob The Merchant" event is set for 9 a.m. until noon on Saturday at Goll's Bakery at 234 N. Washington St.
Grab your friends and load up on baked goods from the city's long-time bakery.
According to a flyer from Main Street, the organization "invites all residents and members to shop as a "mob" to support local merchants! The idea is to join together at a specified time and flood into a designated place of business."
On June 2, Java By The Bay is the targeted business for a "Mob The Merchant" event.
Toe nominate a downtown business, contact Matt Kriegl with Havre de Grace Main Street at 410-939-1811.
TELL US: What's your favorite item at Goll's Bakery? What other business should the Main Street "Mob The Merchant" program support? Leave a comment.


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Amazfit Bip U, which made its global debut in October, is finally on sale in the U.S. The smartwatch has over 60 professional sports modes and is claimed to last up to nine days on a single charge.
Huami has launched its new Amazfit GTR 2 and GTS 2 smartwatches with a load of improvements in design and feature set.
Amazfit's latest smartwatch comes with a retro-digital and a wide range of health and fitness-tracking features. It will be available globally from October 1 for just $40.
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The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has agreed to harmonize its cosmetic regulatory scheme. This decision went into effect in January 2008. The 10 nations that are part of the ASEAN group include Brunei , Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam(see Table 1).
Regulations in ASEAN Countries
Oct 3rd, 2013


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Message from: SLAC
Date: 06 April 2020
SLAC Group have released a statement from chief operating officer, international and chief marketing officer, Chris McKenzie. Chris, based in Australia, has been in global lockdown and has endorsed the use of modern technology to remain socially interactive without face to face meetings.
“We have reported many times that SLAC have been working on The Hive Initiative,” he said. “That is to say we have been helping the industry to move towards using Artificial Intelligence to make what we do in the future when we can’t get personnel in the plants less of a burden – we are moving this up now because unfortunately the future is here, we are adding new tools to monitor and support our customers daily to enact this.
“We in our facility in the resort city of Suzhou, have all returned to work now for some time, we are at 100% manufacturing capacity with some orders delayed slightly through issues outside of our control.
“The extended Chinese New Year vacation enacted by the Government, which was effective, obviously caused us some backlogs but we have added extra shifts to make sure we catch up on lost time. We utilise some US and EU suppliers and have seen issues with some of their deliveries, we continue to work through the supply chain to do our best to make decisions that mitigate this.
“Delivery issues at our customers’ location may be in the next few months problematic as borders close, here in Australia we have closed borders and spatial distancing but the flow of cargo, we hope that this model remains globally, people still need cans for food and beverage.
“Having gone through these tribulations in the first quarter of the year we to this date have on our books a backlog that equates to over 70% of last year’s total sales, healthy strong and ready for the next three quarters with high expectancies for another year of growth even through adversity.
“We at SLAC want to reassure you that because of the decisions made in January 2020 in China we are in the enviable position that we can ensure any requests made today will be dealt with quickly and efficiently, orders made today for all SLAC Equipment will be delivered on time. Even in the present crisis in Europe our Engineers have still been embedded in customer locations throughout Europe.
“Finally, because we have been lucky to have come through this pandemic and understand the fear that the virus can cause we have reached out to our customers globally and offered and in many cases supplied medical masks, gloves and in some cases hand sanitizer, the last one in many cases unfortunately cannot be shipped to many locations as it has alcohol content which can be classed as flammable.”


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4.76 -0.05 (-1.04%)
After hours: 6:17PM EDT
|Bid||4.76 x 2000|
|Ask||4.85 x 3400|
|Day's range||4.75 - 5.10|
|52-week range||4.42 - 11.89|
|PE ratio (TTM)||N/A|
|Earnings date||3 May 2018|
|Forward dividend & yield||N/A (N/A)|
|1y target est||5.71|
Mar.29 -- GoPro Inc. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Nick Woodman discusses the company's foray into licensing its technology and the launch of its new Hero camera. He speaks with Bloomberg's Emily Chang on "Bloomberg Technology."
SAN MATEO, Calif., April 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- GoPro, Inc. (GPRO) today announced the launch of its camera Trade-Up program, offering users in the United States the ability to trade up from any previous-generation GoPro, or any other digital camera, to experience its latest and greatest products. Starting today, anyone in the U.S. can receive $50 off a new HERO6 Black or $100 off Fusion by participating in the program at GoPro.com. GoPro first introduced its Trade-Up program for a limited time in 2017, which only accepted previous-generation GoPro models in exchange for a discounted upgrade to a current model.
Shares of consumer technology company GoPro (GPRO) rose 7.8% in the week that ended on April 13, 2018, to close at $5.26. GoPro stock rose 8% on April 13, 2018, after several websites reported that it might be acquired by China’s (FXI) Xiaomi. GoPro’s CEO, Nicholas Woodman, stated that the company was open to an acquisition and had hired JPMorgan (JPM) to look for potential buyers.
NEW YORK, April 16, 2018-- In new independent research reports released early this morning, Fundamental Markets released its latest key findings for all current investors, traders, and shareholders of ...
Beleaguered action-camera maker GoPro got a lift Thursday from a news report that Chinese electronics firm Xiaomi might make a bid for the company.
SAN MATEO, Calif., April 12, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- GoPro, Inc. (GPRO) today announced that it will release its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2018, after the market closes on May 3, 2018. GoPro management will host a conference call and live webcast for analysts and investors on May 3, 2018 at 2 p.m. Pacific Time (5 p.m. Eastern Time) to discuss the Company's financial results. The webcast will be recorded and the recording will be available on GoPro's website approximately two hours after the call and for 90 days thereafter.
Shares of GoPro (GPRO) were up about 5% in afternoon trading Thursday after a report said that Chinese tech giant Xiamoi Corp. has considered making a bid for the action camera manufacturer.
Shares of GoPro Inc. are up 6.5% in midday trading Thursday after a report from the Information said that Chinese company Xiaomi has considered making an acquisition offer. Xiaomi doesn't want to overpay ...
SAN MATEO, Calif., April 5, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- GoPro, Inc. (GPRO) today announced that Eve Saltman has been named Vice President, Corporate/Business Development and General Counsel, effective March 29. Eve oversees all legal affairs at GoPro in addition to business and corporate development matters, and also serves as Corporate Secretary of the Company. Prior to leaving GoPro in September 2017, Eve was the VP, Deputy General Counsel, and Assistant Corporate Secretary at GoPro, where she helped the company prepare for and go public in 2014.
GoPro (GPRO) rolls out an entry-level HERO camera that is designed to capture stunning videos and pictures, for just $199.99.
Ambarella (AMBA) reported earnings 30 days ago. What's next for the company? We take a look at earnings estimates for some clues.


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Nintendo is bringing a demo of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate for the Nintendo Switch to this year’s EVO Championship
The demo will give fighting game players a chance to sample the game before it releases on Dec. 7 when the community coverages in Las Vegas Aug. 3-5
EVO is already hosting two Smash Bros. tournaments at this year’s event. The Gamecube title Super Smash Bros. Melee and the Wii U title Super Smash Bros. for Wii U both have main stage tournaments scheduled throughout the week.
The demo is likely to be the E3 version of the game which gives players the chance to try out a small sample of characters from the full roster of 65.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is widely expected to be the next big Smash Bros. esport title and will likely replace the Wii U version in future fighting game events. Super Smash Bros. Melee is the only legacy Smash Bros. title that still features in esports due to its wide popularity over the past decade.
When the game was first revealed at E3, Nintendo noted that the game would include 66 characters at launch but have only shown off 65 at this time, the last being Ridley. Its possible, however, that this was a mistake on Nintendo’s part but it still leaves a lot of question marks.
Companies have consistently used EVO to showcase big fighting game reveals over the past few years. New DLC characters, games, and projects are just some of the things that are shown off at the show on the main stage between the various grand finals. So if Nintendo wanted to reveal another character for Ultimate, then EVO could be a prime candidate.


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Pacific Coast Sportfishing is hosting its 5th Annual Tackle, Boat, and Travel show on April 5th and 6th at the Orange County Fairgrounds. This year’s vendor line up promises to be the best yet; with more boats, more tackle, and more travel destinations than ever. If you’ve never attended the show, it’s packed with saltwater specific vendors and products that cover everything from inshore to big game fishing.
As usual the show will have multiple seminars each day and as the headliner, they are flying in the world famous swordfish team “Booby Trap” for a two part seminar series that will help you get one step closer to catching the Holy Grail of fishing. For those with their eyes on smaller game, there will be a two part seminar featuring fishing the front and back of Catalina Island by Captains Joe Barian and Mark Wisch. On Saturday there will also be a seminar on targeting coastal tanker seabass and big halibut. Sunday will offer a seminar on spotted bay bass fishing by the winners of Saturday’s SWBA tournament in Mission Bay.
Aside from the vendors and seminars, the Festival offers a lot of bang for very little buck. Parking is only $5 at the fair grounds and you can get a free ticket by purchasing this month’s Pacific Coast Sportfishing or picking up a copy of the Western Outdoor News or OC Register the week of the show. If you’re one of the first 100 people over 21 through the door each day you’ll also receive a free Ballast Point Beer to sip while you cruise the aisles.
The world famous Newport Rib Company is catering the festival, so there will be plenty of good food available for purchase.
Finally, all attendees are automatically entered into a huge raffle with the grand prize being a 3-night stay at the Wyndam in Cabo San Lucas and 2 days fishing with the Picante Fleet on a 30-foot Cabo.
For more information visit the festival website


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The American wholesale goliath has taken another firm step into the golf equipment business with the three Kirkland Signature wedges making their way onto the USGA conforming list.
The addition of these 52, 56 and 60 degree wedges comes only a matter of months after the introduction of the Kirkland Signature KS1 putter.
Like the putter, these wedges will likely only be available in the US at the time of an initial release but it is a clear sign that Costco is looking to make waves in the golf hardware market.
Of course, Costco made some rather large waves when it released its Kirkland Signature golf balls a few years ago, and will no doubt be hoping to do likewise with these new wedges.
For now we know little about these wedges but what we can deduce from the USGA website is that they will have Milled Face Technology to increase spin and will be crafted from soft carbon steel.
Both of these are things you would expect from the top brands but the most important feature of the Kirkland wedges will likely be the cut price you pay.
It’ll be interesting to see where Costco go from here. Could there be a set of Kirkland irons and woods just around the corner? Only time will tell.


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The technology co-working space provider Techspace is to expand its presence in the Tech City area of London by 25 per cent, the company has announced.
The expansion comes amid growing demand from the thriving tech startup scene for work spaces within environments filled with like-minded businesses.
Techspace London will now be capable of providing 10,000 square feet of space for up to 50 startups in the capital looking for short-term office rental.
"We attribute the upsurge in demand of businesses looking to set up in Techspace to our central Tech City location, fast and reliable fibre internet connectivity and meaningful member engagement," said David Galsworthy, founder of Techspace London.
"Emerging tech businesses like working alongside others who are on a similar growth path, and our members have created a community that is ripe for collaboration."
Since forming last year, Techspace London has already experienced 300 per cent growth and is aiming to have enough space for 200 startups by March of this year.
The benefit for startups is that the spaces on offer can be leased for short periods, depending on the needs of the company, as well as the chance to network with similar businesses.
"We needed an office that wouldn't require a large upfront payment, a long lease or a lot of admin time to set up," said James Pattison, CEO of Startup Direct.
"Techspace provides us with a collaborative environment and occasional peer-to-peer networking opportunities that supports our rapid growth."
Image: Founders of Techspace London (James Laird/ITProPortal)


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This is fantastic.
In light of the recent
typical racist bullshit incident involving Becky, Holly Hylton, calling the police on two Black men, Rashon Nelson and Donte Robinson in just 2 minutes of their arrival at Starbucks, the company has announced that it will be closing 8000 company owned stores on the afternoon of May 29, to provide racial bias training to 175,000 employees. This is to address the apparent racial profiling that happened while Nelson and Robinson were in the Starbucks waiting for a friend to discuss a business deal. Presumably, both men were waiting for their friend’s arrival before ordering, you know, like most people in the world. But because Black people seem to turn into the Incredible Hulk when doing everyday things like driving, walking, exercising, talking, jogging, eating, breathing, Heather took it upon herself to immediately call the police and put in a Code Red for Two…
View original post 457 more words


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The case quickly stands out from anything out there as it is covered in golden leather. The fashion house this week unveiled four new "Eye-Trunk" cases for the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, designed in tribute to Louis Vuitton's origins as a maker of travel luggage and not because of some past connection with elephants, just to be absolutely clear.
Aside from longer battery life, the refreshed MacBook device will reportedly available in bigger and sharper screens, and will feature a new USB Type-C port that supports Thunderbolt 3. Apple Certified Refurbished Products are pre-owned Apple products that undergo Apple's stringent refurbishment process prior to being offered for sale.
In Green Hill Zone Act 2 players will find an all-new area which is exclusive to Sonic Mania , featuring new mechanics, obstacles, and secrets waiting to be discovered. The video game is slated to launch at some point this year for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, and Nintendo Switch platforms. The game looks as you remember it, just slicker, sharper, and fuller.
According to a report from KGI Securities' Ming-Chi Kuo, the screen of the reported device will be 5.8 inches out of which 5.15 inches would be the utilizable screen. Reportedly, the iPhone 8/ iPhone Edition is now being tested in different aspects, such as LCD and AMOLED screens, with and without a home button, and the different types of materials that will be used for its chassis, such as glass, aluminum, and white ceramic.
But regulators insisted that those vehicles have steering wheels, foot controls and human backup drivers who could take over in an emergency. The California DMV will refer to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's guidelines for self-driving vehicles to ensure cars are eligible for the tests.
Judging from the gameplay footage, this looks exactly like the game everyone fell in love with. According to their post, Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy release date is June 30, 2017. What's more, the trilogy will feature full analog stick support, a unified save system and unified checkpoint system, making it easier than ever for new fans to enjoy the classic adventures.
HTC's U Ultra was announced at the start of this year and there were lots of mixed feelings regarding the direction that the company was taking with its latest smartphone series. Navigating through HTC's website and you will be able to see that the U Ultra is going to be sold at a insane $749 price tag, which will obviously force several die-hard HTC fans to question the company's motives.
And what's even more incredible about all of this is the fact that Blizzard is able to introduce such hot topics and create such a deep lore and diverse cast and backstory into a game that actually has no story mode, campaign, or single-player really .
Playing hours upon hours of violent video games has no discernible effect in desensitizing long-term players to real-life violence, a new study finds, science-news website Eureka Alert reported Wednesday. In order to make the tests, consistent gamers were not allowed to play violent video games 3 hours before the testing process. This geared the study towards finding the long-term effects of playing such games.
We've yet to see how good was Nintendo Switch at the beginning and how good it still be doing in the global markets. The console's sales are already on a fast route and these are Nintendo's record sales in Americas and rest of the world for the very first time.
Its Sr Vice Pres, Gen Cnsl & Sec'y BIALOSKY DAVID L sold 25,000 company shares for 892000, in a transaction on 2017-02-14. In other news, VP Stephen Zamansky sold 14,041 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 28th.
The unresponsive microphone is a rather serious issue as users are unable to make phone calls. Google admitted recently that a small part of their Pixel phones have problems with their microphones. A few issues had cropped up regarding lens flare in pictures caused by the physical structure of the camera lens. The customers who purchased the device straight from Google can have a new one sent to them before returning the existing one, but you will have to agree to a hold on your own credit ...
The Wii managed to sell 95,000 units over the course of its opening weekend, shy by just 10,000 units of what the Nintendo Switch did last weekend. We heard recently that the console is the fastest selling Nintendo console in the USA during its launch week, and we heard that the console is also breaking sales records in Europe.
As The WSJ previously reported in 2016, Facebook was then set to pay sports teams and athletes over $4 million to use Facebook Live video. A minimum of 22 live streamed matches - which will include Facebook-specific commentators and interactive features to engage with fans - will be available in English across the US through the Univision Deportes Facebook page , according to the announcement.
In that game, Steven functioned as a cheerleader (of course he did) for Garnet, Amethyst, and Paerl, giving out power-ups, and items while the Gems took on the enemies. There's no release date beyond the summer window, but console owners can look forward to learning more about the very cute, very stylish game at PAX East this weekend.
CLSA analysts disclosed their opinion on Philip Morris International Inc. Cornerstone Advisors Inc. now owns 1,155 shares of the company's stock valued at $112,000 after buying an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. That is compared with the $0.98 in EPS it reported during the same period a year ago. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Philip Morris International will post $4.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
The user can not proceed unless he or she clicks on " Yes, view profile " button. And if you visit the profile directly, the warning message is all that displays until you agree to view the content by clicking the " Yes, view profile " button.
The Galaxy S8 is set to come with a 5.8' Quad HD Super AMOLED display along with IP68 dust and water resistance, Samsung Knox, Samsung Pay, Wireless Charging, 4G LTE support and earphones tuned by AKG. It means the phone will have three different security options, the other two being the fingerprint scanner and the iris scanner. The image pretty much reiterates previous rumours of a large dual-edge curved display with the iris scanner in the front.
Experts pointed out that such online abuse has always been known about by senior figures in the military. The Naval Criminal Investigative Service launched an investigation and urges whistleblowers to come forward with information. In 2013, not long after joining up as an excited 18-year-old, Johnson was raped by a corporal, she alleged in a report to her command. There are many more explicit images on the message board.
Gran Turismo Sport will be the first in the series to appear on the PlayStation 4. "While we begin to roll out the beta, we have decided that the time differences across the USA are best matched to the development team in Tokyo". Do you think this might be the game that makes Gran Turismo the king of racing games again? Gran Turismo Sport was announced at Paris Game Week almost two years ago.
BTIG Research reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Sirius XM Holdings in a research report on Friday, December 9th. The company earned $1.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 28th. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 3rd. Principal Financial Group Inc.
VW aims to "create the conditions to offer appropriate mobility solutions for the new , fast-growing auto markets" with the deal, chief executive Matthias Mueller said. Delegating project responsibility to ŠKODA underscores the great confidence of the Volkswagen Group in the ability of our brand. These two platforms would be used to make mini-cars, hatchbacks, sedans, SUVs and crossovers, in order for more economical and efficient production so as to adjust more quickly to market trends.
At this point in time, it's safe to say that most copies of Windows 10 are legit, which means Microsoft has already made money off of it. If you're seeing these ads, they're pretty easy to disable with one caveat. The advert is part of the new Windows 10 Creators Update, which is now beta testing with early adopters but is scheduled to roll out to all Windows 10 users this year.
When pressed over his future, Hart told BBC's The Premier League Show: "I'd say I'm pretty much surplus to requirements". Torino president Urbano Cairo recently stated the Serie A side are keen to make Hart's stay permanent, but no talks have taken place between the goalkeeper and City as of yet.
The company did not respond to a request for comment. At the time, a source close to the company told Forbes that the total round would reach $850 million, but clearly Airbnb had little trouble surpassing it. That figure is up from the $555 million the home-sharing startup declared in September. This newest influx of cash puts the company at an estimated valuation of $31 billion.
Bolted to it is an Xtrac six-speed sequential gearbox, which then travels to a mechanical LSD. The road-going ZL1 1LE on which the track-honed GT4.R is based features much more aggressive aerodynamics, adjustable front dampers that can raise or lower the ride height, more grippy Goodyear Eagle F1 Supercar 3R tyres wrapped around 1.5kg lighter alloy wheels, and thinner rear glass and fixed rear seats that shed another 26kg.
The Playstation 4 Pro was released in November 2016 as what many have called a mid-generation update. Along with the announcement, it will also contain a new Boost Mode feature for the PS4 and adds support for the external hard drives .
Google and Kaggle have already worked together in the past, and are now teaming up on a $100,000 competition to accurately classify YouTube videos. Google and SAP have entered into a deal that will see SAP services delivered over the Google Cloud Platform (GCP) and Google's machine learning technology integrated in the German software giant's applications.
The Mountain View giant previewed this feature previous year, and it is basically a tool that allows users to create, share and work as a team. Google's cloud unit sees its Google Drive as the hub for enterprise productivity and collaboration and has stepped up its compliance controls in a bid to win over more customers.
BlackRock Fund Advisors now owns 6,400,503 shares of the company's stock worth $73,862,000 after buying an additional 379,664 shares during the period. Acrospire Investment Management LLC now owns 11,406 shares of the company's stock worth $132,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period.
Carmelo's formal name is Friar Bigoton and his fellow monks say they are all elated to have him around. Proyecto Narices Frias , the animal shelter that first took him in, posted last week on Facebook that Carmelo had found a new home at a Franciscan monastery, located in San Francisco, Cochabamba, Bolivia, that had nicknamed him Friar Bigoton, or Friar Mustache in English.
According to Bloomberg , the 8,761 documents and files posted by Wikileaks on Tuesday are allegedly coming from the CIA's Center for Cyber Intelligence . Investigators say the leak was not the work of a hostile foreign power like Russian Federation but of a disaffected insider, as WikiLeaks suggested when it released the documents.
While only 2 percent of existing Android users have migrated onto the Nougat platform, Google has still continued to progress with its next generation Android software, that could be named Oreo. Just type "it's at" and automatically generated suggestion in GBoard will deliver the restaurant's address right in the messaging interface. It's still unclear whether this feature will be a part of the Android UI, or a part of Google's Gboard keyboard.
You are set in the same universe as The Elder Scrolls series and will be making the best of your deck to battle your enemies. Keep in mind folks, this isn't your ordinary card game. That will be followed by Legends' first PvE expansion, The Fall of The Dark Brotherhood , which arrives on April 5 , and an Android tablet rollout later that month.
The company provided earnings per share guidance of $1.35-1.39 for the period, compared to the Thomson Reuters consensus earnings per share estimate of $1.37. Heading into the earnings release, covering sell-side analysts have a consensus target price of $19.75 on VeriFone Systems, Inc. shares. Several analysts have commented on PAY shares.


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QSRs continue to be part of campaigns that aim to reduce plastic waste.
Cafe de Coral, Fairwood and Maxim’s will be giving away free reusable utensils to customers as part of a HK$1.2 million government-funded scheme to lessen the usage of single-use plastic cutlery.
Hong Kong government has funded a HK$1.2 million scheme to have Cafe de Coral, Fairwood and Maxim’s give free reusable utensils to customers.
According to a report by The South China Morning Post, the scheme is being lead by non-statutory body Environmental Campaign Committee (ECC). The initiative aims to have Hongkongers embrace the habit of bringing their own reusable utensils.
The campaign will go on for two months, giving out around 300,000 sets of cutlery.
Cafe de Coral, Maxim’s and Fairwood joins a number of QSRs in Asia who are doing sustainability initiatives.
McDonald’s Malaysia, Starbucks Korea and Burger King Singapore were recently reported to have stopped giving out plastic straws. Starbucks Taiwan also launched their outlet made of shipping containers and McDonald’s China announced that they will be building 1,800 ‘green’ stores.
(Photo credit: Cafe de Coral Facebook)
Do you know more about this story? Contact us anonymously through this link.


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The next generation of VW’s top-selling Tiguan SUV has been spotted testing and is due in 2024.
A new version of the popular Volkswagen Tiguan is coming by 2024. The third generation of the family SUV is set to be the last to incorporate a combustion engine; however, with the push to electrify our roads by 2030, the Tiguan will likely receive a mixture of electrified powertrains.
Testing mules have been spotted out and about in Germany, wearing the more inconspicuous shell of the current car. However, spy photographs reveal that the front of the car has been modified to close off the top half of the grille, whereas the bottom has been widened to allow for sufficient cooling – similar to that of the electric Volkswagen ID 3.
Speaking of VW’s electric range, the release of a new model inevitably raises questions surrounding a possible fully-electric variant. However, the chances of there being a Tiguan EV are small as the family SUV comes very close in size to VW’s own ID 4; the German brand will want to avoid stepping on the toes of this crucial model for the lineup, with it currently overshadowed by the cheaper and mechanically-similar Skoda Enyaq iV.
The new Tiguan will instead sit on the current Mk8 Golf’s MQB Evo underpinnings, meaning that it’ll likely share many of the same powertrains, too. So fans of performance SUVs should not be dissuaded as there will probably be a sporty Tiguan R variant; this will likely use the muscular 235kW 2.0-litre four-cylinder from the current Golf R.
Similarities to the Golf will continue on the inside as the Tiguan will get that car’s dual-screen infotainment system setup. This consists of a 10-inch digital instrument cluster, alongside a 10.25-inch central touchscreen. The overall design won’t be quite as minimalist as VW’s ID-badged cars; however, the frustrating touch-sensitive climate controls will likely reappear here. Nevertheless, we can expect the change in platform to further expand the Tiguan’s class-leading 520-litre boot.


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Innosilicon has recently released several models of T2T series bitcoin miners in the market: such as T2T+, T2TZ, T2TZS, T2TH, T2THS and T2THU, which can be divided into SI and SII according to different production batches. The model for trial experience today is the latest bitcoin miner Innosilicon T2THU-30T.
Recently, some cryptocurrency miner manufacturers have released their latest generation of products. Innosilicon T3-43T bitcoin miner owns the highest single hashrate with the official value of 43T and power consumption of 2100W.
Now, EastShore will bring you the latest evaluation on Innosilicon T3-43T as follows.
This tutorial is intended for the Innosilicon A4+ LTCMaster 620MH with 750w Litecoin Miner which is one of the most powerful litecoin miner of Innosilicon. The hashrate of the A4+ LTCMaster is 620MH while the power consumption is only 750w.


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While there is a steady choir of voices bemoaning the future of reading in the digital age, the news is not all bad. According to a 2013 poll
Despite bleak prophecies, print books will always have their aficionados and there is no reason to assume e-books will ever replace â€œtraditionalâ€ books completely. However, there is a growing sense that, rather than taking anything away from the reading experience, e-book reading devices and tablets make it easier for us to get lost in a book and actually give us an incentive to read faster.
Here are 7 reasons why the future of reading might actually be brighter with 7-inch Android tablets.


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FILE - In this May 9, 2011 file photo, a Hertz rental car worker checks out cars at San Jose International Airport in San Jose, Calif. Hertz on Tuesday, March 18, 2014 said it plans to spin off its equipment rental business into a separate publicly traded company. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, File)
FILE - In the Monday, Sept. 23, 2013, file photo, price tags hang on merchandise at T.J. Maxx in North Andover, Mass. The Labor Department releases the Consumer Price Index for February, on Tuesday, March 18, 2014. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola, File)
FILE - In this Monday, Feb. 3, 2014, file photo, a construction worker unloads rebar in the Brooklyn borough of New York. The Commerce Department reports on U.S. home construction in February on Tuesday, March 18, 2014. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
From staff and wire reports
PPG to expand presence in Mexico
PPG Industries said it will invest more than $27 million to expand its coatings facility in San Juan del Rio, Mexico. The expansion includes four new buildings that will house production and laboratory space. PPG expects employment at the plant to grow by 30 percent to 115 workers. The facility makes coatings for automotive, protective and marine, packaging and industrial customers.
Bar association to offer free legal clinic
Lawyers from the Allegheny County Bar Association will provide free legal consultations and education on March 29 at a clinic at the Homewood-Brushton YMCA. The sessions will run from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Energy costs hold down consumer price increase
Cheaper energy kept U.S. consumer prices in check last month, despite a big rise in the cost of food, the latest sign that inflation is tame. The consumer price index rose 0.1 percent in February, matching January’s increase, the Labor Department said Tuesday. In the past 12 months, prices have risen just 1.1 percent. Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, core prices rose 0.1 percent last month and 1.6 percent in the past year.
Home construction fell for a third month
U.S. home construction fell for a third month in February, but in a hopeful sign, applications for building permits rose to their highest level in four months. Builders started work on 907,000 homes at a seasonally adjusted annual rate in February, the Commerce Department said Tuesday. That was down a slight 0.2 percent from January. The declines have been blamed in large part on severe winter weather in much of the country. Applications for permits to build homes, considered a gauge of future activity, rose a solid 7.7 percent in February to 1.02 million units.
Hertz spinning off its equipment rental business
Hertz plans to spin off its equipment rental business into a separate publicly traded company by early next year. The car rental company said Tuesday that it will receive about $2.5 billion in net proceeds as part of the transaction and plans to use it to pay down debt and to support a new $1 billion stock buyback.
GM CEO Barra expects to testify about recall
General Motors CEO Mary Barra says it’s likely she will testify before congressional committees investigating the company’s handling of a faulty ignition switch that is tied to 12 deaths. She spoke to reporters Tuesday for the first time since the company recalled 1.6 million compact cars to repair the problem.
Google, Viacom settle YouTube copyright suit
Google Inc. and Viacom Inc. settled Viacom’s $1 billion lawsuit claiming YouTube violated copyrights by letting users post video clips from television shows without authorization after a federal judge twice threw out the allegations. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed.
Also in business ...
Laurie Brubaker has been named president of Aetna's Pennsylvania, Delaware and West Virginia operations. Ms. Brubaker has worked at Aetna for 25 years, previously as its chief culture officer.
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According to a report from Chitika, Apple dominates web traffic share among mobile devices. The online ad network’s report shows 46 percent of smartphone web usage coming through Apple iPhones, with 43% up to the 4S, and another 3 percent from the iPhone 5 alone. Samsung is second place at 17% with the Samsung Galaxy S III driving 2 percent of mobile web traffic on its network, while all other Samsung mobile devices combined at 15 percent.
Apple and Samsung combined account for a total of 63 percent of the mobile traffic Chitika sees through its millions of daily ad impressions, well over all other smartphones which are at 37 percent overall. These latest figures show that Apple and Samsung are the two dominant players in the mobile smartphone market and that no other company even comes close. And the report also shows that just two products, the iPhone 5 for Apple and the Galaxy S III for Samsung, are driving the smartphone web traffic.
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Government should wake up to scourge of illegal LEDs
The Indian LED lighting industry is going through a boom phase. According to some estimates, the market has grown at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17.5 per cent between 2009 and 2016 and is now worth around $3.7 billion (with LEDs at around 40 per cent of the market share). This makes the industry worth much more than the total GDP of over two dozen countries around the world.
The Modi government’s Unnat Jeevan by Affordable LEDs and Appliances for All (UJALA) programme, the world’s largest non-subsidised LED bulb distribution scheme, has given the industry an added push. Over 250 million LED bulbs have been successfully distributed under the programme. The eventual target is to replace 770 million incandescent bulbs across India with LEDs. Such a humongous production target opens up prospects of great employment opportunities and exponential growth within the industry.However, the situation is not so straightforward. Market distortions due to corruption and illegal activities have always been a bane for India and the lighting industry is no exception. According to a recent study by ELCOMA, the manufacturers’ umbrella body, across three Indian metropolitan cities, 54 per cent of LED brands and 63 per cent of downlighter brands are non-compliant with industry regulations (carrying the name and address of the manufacturer on the product). This makes more than half the lighting market illegal in its operations and out of the purview of tax authorities in these cities. The situation can only be worse in smaller cities. Moreover, about 80 per cent and 77 per cent of LED and downlighter manufacturers were found to be non-compliant of BIS safety regulations. This puts the consumers of these goods at risk.
Such disproportionately high levels of illegal operations diminish the gains that the economy can make from a thriving manufacturing industry. First are the employment losses that are generated as a result of these illegal manufacturers. Such operators either illegally import finished products from China or merely assemble imported parts in India — reducing any requirement for labour within the country.
Second, since the illegal market evades taxes by definition, it results in a huge loss for the national exchequer. When more than half the market is unaccounted for, a $4 billion industry can be said to amount to at least twice that number. With a GST of 12 percent on LEDs, the loss in revenue should sum up to approximately $0.5 billion. Finally, by not complying with safety standards, these operators put at risk quite a few consumers, most of whom are at the bottom of the pyramid.
Apart from these inimical effects on the economy, such illegal operations tend to distort the pricing of the market as well. Since this segment of the market does not have to incur the cost of compliance or pay any taxes, their costs of operation are lower than the rest of the market. Due to these reasons, products manufactured through the legal route have a price mark-up of about four times in the LED market. Therefore, unless the consumer is brand and safety conscious, the illegal market keeps capturing a higher market share. This creates a vicious self-fulfilling cycle for the expansion of tax-avoiding manufacturers which disincentivises compliance.
The lighting industry is not a unique case in India. A parallel illegal market exists for virtually all products in the country and this is mostly true for all economies. However, the magnitude and size of the parallel market in the lighting industry is alarming. The elimination of these activities and expansion of organised manufacturing is crucial for achievement of higher levels of development for the economy. Jobs, revenue and safety all hang in balance due to the existence of such illegal markets. Cracking down on the problem can also go a long way in remedying the job problem that is currently ailing the economy and provide the government with higher tax revenues which can be used for productive investments.
These markets can only be eliminated if the cost of evasion is pushed upwards. Therefore, stricter enforcement of compliance regulations and safety norms is needed on an urgent basis. Regular raids also need to be conducted by tax authorities in these trading and assembling units. However, all of these measures can only arise after a recognition of the existence of a problem by the authorities concerned. Without such a recognition, even if God says “Let there be light”, there will only be sub-standard LEDs and no jobs.


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Before we takeoff, a few reminders on the safety features on this newsletter. The reply button lets you send your juicy tips straight to me, while the forward button allows you to share Login with a friend. If you are seated in an exit row you may be called on to assist other subscribers.
Intel CEO Brian Krzanich told Axios on Thursday that he sees virtual reality not only changing the face of sports, but also potentially being a multi-billion dollar business for Intel.
"I think it can be a couple billion dollar business" he said in an interview after his appearance at Code Conference. "And the reason is this is a whole new feed...things like advertising, the ability to take that data and sell it...we're the only ones who we believe can produce this stuff."
Strategy: Intel has made several acquisitions to build its sports VR business, including Replay Technologies and Voke. The result is technology that Krzanich says will let people soon watch live sports broadcasts and choose their own view, keying in on a key player or even watching the game from their point of view.
Further applications: It's not just about a new way to watch the game, though. Krzanich also sees the technology helping detect player injuries, augmenting the work of human referees, and creating even more realistic sports video games.
"If you look at the beginning of the internet...gaming and sports were two big things that drive people to the internet, so those two things are probably going to drive people to VR," Krzanich said.
I mentioned another industry that drove the internet and could also fuel VR (aka adult entertainment). Krzanich said he wasn't going to comment on that.
As for Intel and VR sports, I've got more here.
Meanwhile, when asked about the prospect of Apple using its own chips rather than those from Intel in the Mac, Krzanich said the company is probably always looking at whether such a move makes sense.
"As an engineer I think they'd be foolish not to do that test," Krzanich said on stage at Code. "We always look at it as a competitive battle we have to win. "Our job is to make our products so compelling – the power, the battery life."
Krzanich said he had no inside knowledge, adding that he would not be privy to those conversations.
Read more on this and Apple's past chip moves.
Late on Thursday, Apple CEO Tim Cook sent company employees a strongly worded memo against Trump's move to exit the Paris accord, and confirmed he called the president earlier in the week to try and avert such a move.
Cook's email followed a number of other tech industry denunciations. But it's no surprise that tech companies don't like Trump's move. The real question is how many will cut ties with the White House over the decision.
Confirmed moves: Tesla CEO Elon Musk also said he is following through on a promise to leave all of Trump's advisory boards if the president withdrew from the Paris Agreement. Disney CEO Bob Iger also said he is exiting an advisory group, while GM CEO Mary Barra is remaining on a Trump advisory committee.
Behind the scenes: In case you are interested, Mike Allen and Jonathan Swan have an inside look at the White House decision-making, including that, in retrospect, the "debate" was mostly a charade.
Image and voice recognition technologies are becoming so sophisticated that experts predict both technologies could replace typing, at least in part, when it comes to communication and search, Sara Fischer reports.
What's next? Nearly 70% of voice requests are natural/conversational language, per Mary Meeker's latest report. New technologies, like Twilio's natural-language-understanding software, are learning how to analyze intent during a voice call. On the image side, a new app called Project Chalk debuted last week that will let users draw on the screen of live video chats through augmented reality.
In other news: A new study conducted by researchers at Oxford and Yale shows that there is a 50% chance AI will automate all human jobs in the next 122 years, but in certain tasks, humans will be outperformed much sooner, as Alayna Treene reports:
On tap: Computex continues through Saturday in Taipei, Taiwan.
Trading places: Airbnb named Hong Ge as VP for its China business following a long search, Bloomberg reports...Starbucks' PR chief Corey duBrowa is leaving to become chief communications officer at Salesforce.
ICYMI: Alphabet's Waymo unit has begun testing how its self-driving technology can apply to trucks...Apple issued a press release touting the fact developer earnings from the App Store have now topped $70 billion; separately it announced that its Swift Playgrounds app can now be used to code for robots, drones, and other hardware from Sphero, Lego and others...Password manager OneLogin revealed it had been hacked, raising significant concerns given the type of data it holds.
It's been a long week. But hey, it's Friday.


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Malaysia's reserves remain usable and unencumbered as at end-September 2014, based on the detailed breakdown of international reserves under the International Monetary Fund's Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS) format.
Small and well-run Singapore, New Zealand and Hong Kong are the world's easiest places to run a business, while global giants China, Brazil and India remain far down the list, according the World Bank.
Jack Ma, founder of e-commerce giant Alibaba, is China's richest person with a fortune of nearly $20 billion, as billionaires increase despite a slowdown in the country's economy, Forbes magazine said Tuesday.
Japan and the United States failed to reach a much-awaited breakthrough over market access and other hurdles vital to advancing an ambitious trade pact among Pacific countries, Xinhua news agency reported.
Australia's Trade Minister Andrew Robb says the Trans-Pacific Partnership Free Trade Agreement (TPPA) is starting to take shape and "should be concluded by year's end", the Australian Associated Press reports.


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Tesla got a surprise vote of confidence on Tuesday morning from a massive Chinese social network company.
In a U.S. regulatory filing, Tencent announced that it has acquired a 5% stake in Tesla, costing about $1.8 billion. The move comes as Tesla has raised $1.4 billion in a separate offering of stock and debt, increasing its liquidity as the Elon Musk venture tries to mass produce the new, cheaper Model 3 sedan.
Tencent may be unfamiliar to many of Tesla's U.S. customers, but it is worth almost $280 billion listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange. Tencent's biggest business is mobile gaming, built on top of WeChat, its ubiquitous messaging app. WeChat has more than 750 million daily active users, second globally only to Facebook's 1.26 billion.
Tencent has been acquisitive in the past, but mainly around gaming, like League of Legends-maker Riot Games and Clash of Clans-maker Supercell. It has also invested in China's largest ridesharing startup, Didi Chuxing, and startup electric car developer NextEv.
Tesla shares traded up about 3% on the news, and are now up 30% since the beginning of the year.


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AMD to Report Fiscal First Quarter 2020 Financial Results
For 50 years AMD has driven innovation in high-performance computing, graphics and visualization technologies ― the building blocks for gaming, immersive platforms and the data center. Hundreds of millions of consumers, leading Fortune 500 businesses and cutting-edge scientific research facilities around the world rely on AMD technology daily to improve how they live, work and play. AMD employees around the world are focused on building great products that push the boundaries of what is possible. For more information about how AMD is enabling today and inspiring tomorrow, visit the AMD (NASDAQ: AMD) website, blog, LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter pages.
AMD, the AMD Arrow logo and the combination thereof are trademarks of
AMD Investor Relations


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There are good reasons to follow the Nasdaq Composite index and its top influencers in today’s market. But in a market made up of leading stocks, it would be a huge error to ignore McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD). Let’s see what’s happening off and on the MCD stock price chart and why it’s time to sink your teeth into a risk-adjusted long position.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL). Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT). Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN). Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL). Facebook (NASDAQ:FB). It’s a who’s who of large-cap technology. And it’s no secret Wall Street and consumers alike love them. Further, that enthusiasm has only grown during the novel coronavirus pandemic. The fact is, technology has helped businesses and people like you and me navigate the lock-downs and working from home.
Still, it would be a big mistake to think technology stocks are the only winners in all of this. The biggest proof of this may be large-cap peer McDonald’s.
MCD Stock on a 2020 Tear
The Dow Jones blue-chip stock and fast-food giant has been on a tear in 2020. Ever since Covid-19 plunged the broader stock averages into a historically roiling, but brief bear market into late March, shares of McDonald’s have surged nearly 80%. The stock has also hit new record highs. But that’s not all.
Despite September’s market correction which took the Nasdaq down 13% and proffered even larger valuation checks for its leading tech influencers, McDonald’s stock is less than 3% off from another all-time-high. And at its worst, shares were down just 6%. Now that’s leadership not worth disputing.
Of course, it’s not a form of mad cow disease which has Wall Street’s bulls buying McDonald’s.
Similar to their favorite tech toys, investors are heeding the timeless advice of legendary fund manager Peter Lynch and simply buying what they’ve been using or more aptly, consuming. Convenient drive-thru, click-and-collect and delivery options have been available throughout the pandemic at McDonald’s. And now many locations are also allowing dine-in services once again.
Ignore Valuation Warnings
To be sure, proof of McDonald’s success isn’t exactly baked into the past couple earnings releases. It’s the opposite. But given all the costs associated with McDonald’s successfully beating back the coronavirus, dire-looking bottom and top-line results shouldn’t be a surprise. Plain and simple, don’t be fooled by “worst in umpteenth quarter nonsense” or valuation warnings MCD stock is too expensive.
More importantly, the next time you’re on the couch watching Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX), YouTube, mindlessly trolling Facebook for hours or in your Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) and in need of a quick bite to eat, appreciate that an order from McDonalds may be sitting next to you or on your neighbor’s lap. And trust me, when we’ve fully put the pandemic behind us, McDonald’s essential goods or goodies will prove bigger than ever.
MCD Stock Monthly Price Chart
Source: Charts by TradingView
If I didn’t know any better, I’d think the monthly price chart of McDonald’s stock was that of a hot tech company. But as mentioned above, MCD stock has demonstrated relative and absolute price strength above and beyond most of its blue-chip tech peers over the past six months. And those bullish trends look set to continue.
As the McDonald’s chart also reflects, shares have traded through and remain at new highs in September following a breakout of a year-ago’s all-time-high. It’s no small feat and deserves investors’ respect as a new rally led (again) by large-cap tech has emerged the past two sessions. Moreover, right now shares of McDonald’s look investable as part of a well-structured, risk-adjusted purchase.
Today’s recommendation on how to smartly buy McDonald’s stock is a simple one. Go to the options menu for MCD stock and order a collar to hedge the long delta position risk. Collars offer defined and reduced risk. The strategy also allows shareholders to take in income. It’s versatile too. Not only can collars be used flexibly to trade the trend, they’re also great for nibbling or even gorging on shares in those instances when others are caught upchucking in the street.
On the date of publication, Chris Tyler did not hold, directly or indirectly, positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article.
The information offered is based upon Christopher Tyler’s observations and strictly intended for educational purposes only; the use of which is the responsibility of the individual. For additional market insights and related musings, follow Chris on Twitter @Options_CAT and StockTwits.


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Ant Group launches Alipay+ D-store solution
Ant Group today officially launched its Alipay+ D-store, a business digitalization solution designed to support the service industry to digitalize its operations to boost efficiency and productivity.
An integrated one-stop solution which businesses can use to build digital stores across multiple digital platforms in a fast, scalable and cost-efficient way, Alipay+ D-store™ provides a suite of toolkits to digitalize merchants’ payments, operations, services and marketing, unlocking new revenue opportunities and delivering better services to consumers.
Businesses could have digital stores on digital platforms in the form of mini programmes. Digital stores could also be developed as H5 pages and easily embedded in social media and online to reach consumers. Digital platforms currently partnering with Alipay+ D-store™ include Chope, Alipay, Touch ‘n Go eWallet, AlipayHK, etc.
“We welcome more digital platforms to collaborate to accelerate the digitalization of the global service industry together,” Dr. Cherry Huang, Global Head of Alipay+ D-store™ said.
“Leveraging digital solutions is critical for the service industries to boost operational efficiency and adapt to the fast-changing market conditions. The Alipay+ D-store™ solution is developed with the goal to make it easier for brick-and-mortar businesses to go digital at scale, so that businesses can better serve and engage digital-savvy consumers by providing a seamless omni-channel experience,” she added.
Having identified the F&B industry a priority sector, Alipay+ D-store™ solution has been adopted by brands including fast food chain Burger King, Koufu, one of Singapore’s most established and largest operators and managers of food courts and coffee shops, and more than 2,000 local restaurants, cafes and eateries in Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong SAR, China and other markets.


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'Super Mario Odyssey' will not feature a Game Over screen when players fail a level.
In a move similar to one on 'Grand Theft Auto V', Nintendo has revealed gamers will instead lose a minimum of 10 coins should they "die" by falling off the stage or ending up with zero HP.
Previously, the traditional Game Over screen would've appeared, much to the frustration of some.
However, there could be others who are more disappointed by the news that their hard-earned cash is set to disappear if they continue to get Mario into sticky situations.
The new move was revealed on Super Mario Odyssey's official Twitter account ahead of the release of the hotly-anticipated Nintendo Switch game, which is due to drop in October.
This comes after it was revealed last month that the title will feature 2D sections, inspired by classic NES games.
What's more, the game will see a return for Pauline, Mario's girlfriend he had to rescue from the titular giant ape in 'Donkey Kong'.
Since being held captive by DK, Pauline has become mayor of New Donk City, and will give Mario a mission to find musicians to play at a club.
It's not known whether Pauline will play a big or small part in 'Super Mario Odyssey', but speculation is rife that she could be prominent, and with 2D sections there may even be a Donkey Kong/King Kong homage at some point in the game.
In other Nintendo news, the games giant has released a free 'Splatoon 2' demo ahead of the game dropping on July 21.


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Cannabis sales in Washington continue to grow year over year, according to annual data released last month by the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board. Consumers in Washington spent $1.49 billion on cannabis in the fiscal year ended June 30, up from $1.27 billion in fiscal 2020. This continues an upward trend in the revenue numbers, which topped $1 billion for the first time in 2019. Fiscal 2021 sales generated a record $533.9 million in tax revenue for the state.
Spokane County continues to be among the leaders in revenue produced overall and revenue produced per capita. Rounding up, $164 million was spent on retail cannabis in Spokane County over the past fiscal year, generating $60.6 million in tax revenue. That puts Spokane County third in the state, behind only King and Pierce counties. King and Pierce are the state's first and second most-populated counties, while Spokane County ranks fourth in population.
This is where things get interesting.
Looking at the county-by-county data there's a pretty clear correlation with bigger counties amounting to larger sums of money spent on cannabis. More people, more money — makes sense. But, if you break it down per capita, that correlation falls apart. Take Asotin County, for example. Located in the southeast corner of Washington, Asotin County is home to just 22,820 residents, according to the most recent Census Bureau estimate, but generated $15.3 million in cannabis sales in fiscal 2021. That averages out to $672.50 per resident. The state average is $197.13 per resident.
So, is Asotin County just high out of its mind? Or, does it happen to border a state where cannabis remains illegal?
The latter seems to be true. Spokane County ranks second in per capita spending at $310.03 per resident. Whitman County, which also borders Idaho, was third in per capita spending each of the past two years. This year it's fourth, by less than a dollar behind Grays Harbor County, at $266.79. Three of the top four counties in Washington, based on per-capita spending on cannabis, border Idaho, a state where cannabis remains entirely illegal. It appears non-residents are pumping up border-county stats.
If this could be written off at one time as a statistical blip, it no longer can. This is an established trend, and Washington is clearly benefiting financially from the Gem State's abstinence when it comes to entering the legal cannabis market. ♦